Plus, the EGOT winner takes EW on an exclusive tour of her set!
Now,Jennifer Hudsonis ready for a new chapter in her career.
Songs may happen very spontaneously on her series, she warns.
Jennifer Hudson on ‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’.Chris Millard/Warner Bros.
“It may not be me singing, it may be you singing, or me singing with you.
Sometimes a word triggers a song.
It’s kind of like when I would throw a shoe onThe Voice…
Chris Millard/Warner Bros.
But that’ll be the fun in it.
Like, ‘Oh, here comes a song.'”
you could see all of that in the video above, and read on for more from our conversation.
Chris Millard/Warner Bros.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Was this talk show something you’d been thinking about for a while?
Was it just an opportunity that presented itself?
An idea that popped up and you and your team moved quickly on it?
‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’.Chris Millard/Warner Bros.
JENNIFER HUDSON:It was a bit of everything.
I’m a talker, and Iloveme some people.
So when the opportunity came about, I’m like, “Oh, my God, yes.”
‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’.Chris Millard/Warner Bros.
Like everything else, this is just me and who I am, what I do.
Then it’s like, who do I need to sit down and talk to?
Because whether you got a camera on or off, I’m gonna be talking.
That is for sure.
So once you were going into rooms, meeting with executives, what was the pitch?
What was the Jennifer Hudson angle that you were trying to sell people on for a daytime show?
Or music there’s the [musical director] or songwriter, and then you record.
But this is like, okay, just be you.
I feel like I should be prepping.
How do I prep?
Don’t study anything.
And it’s like, okay, I’m gonna just be me.
But I want you all to get to know the person and I want to get to knowyourperson.
I want to sit on the couch because I never get to sit down ‘cause I’m always working.
So now I finally get to sit on the couch and have a conversation.
And it debuts on your birthday, right?
That was not planned.
It’s a good day to have a party.
That is the party.
What else is there to do?
Whatever we want to do.
Just have a good time.
And I get to do that with my show… on my birthday.
I do want to skate a little bit though.
I do love that activity.
Are you going to clear some space on the set for that?
Well, you’re gonna get a bit of all of that.
We playin’ basketball?
We ridin’ bikes?
I get in there.
What did you want to convey with just the look of it?
It’s very open and but it’s very warm.
I want you to feel like you’re at my home.
You’re getting a piece that no one really gets to see.
A place of togetherness.
And so the room will read the room.
It’s not always going to just be one sad thing because life changes.
So I want those changes to be in the moment, whatever that moment requires.
You mentioned wanting to have a chance to just sit down on the couch.
Is that the kind of setup you’ll have?
So maybe it’s a couch."
We’re Jennifer-izing from my perspective of how I can make things my version of it.
So I was like, what if it changes to the mood that we’re in?
Like a mood ring?
Depending on what the conversation is, the narrative is.
It’s part of the storytelling.
Will there be like a like a spot to put all that EGOT hardware?
You know what, I have been contemplating on that.
That’s so crazy to say.
I was like, so do I take it with me?
Or do I leave it here?
So I decided to create duplicates because it’s a part of me.
That should be with me.
I was like, wait a minute, I spent 20 years building and establishing this.
I just introduced Emmy to Tony, and the Grammy and Oscar.
Who gets to see the EGOT?
Then I’m like, I gotta leave it?
And I don’t know when I’m coming back.
So I was a little bit attached to that.
Will there be a performance stage?
It’s set up very much like my house.
I have what I call the singing circle.
Listen, music is everywhere.
People are like, “Is music gonna be involved?”
Honey, music is a part of my life.
Even if I’m not singing, you’re gonna feel it.
So, you need a solo?
Go to the piano, sing a song.
[The show] lends [itself] to all of that.
I think keeping it organic [is the key].
It’s more of an expression and it’s spontaneous.
It may not be me singing, it may be you singing, or me singing with you.
Sometimes a word triggers a song.
It’s kind of like when I would throw a shoe onThe Voice.
I was about to say, you’d often break out into song there.
Very much like that!
It just happens, and sometimes I’m singing and I don’t even know it.
But that’ll be the fun in it.
Like, “Oh, here comes a song.”
[Laughs] That punch in of moment.
And I can sing acapella, too.
I don’t always need music.
It’s not just about me.
It’s about creating an experience and a moment together.
And I love for everybody to be a part of it and feel included.
I know you filmed some test shows a while back to feel out the situation.
I can’t get over the magnitude of all the people that it takes.
That blew my mind.
I had never seen that before.
and they were like, “Where did you come from?”
Everyone’s putting in work and I’m fascinated by that.
Music is more first nature to me, but expression is too being expressive.
And that’s just being real, and then being present.
So that kind of eliminates any perfection that is expected.
It’s like, I’m human.
We’re here together.
And I feel like that’s the relatable part.
Kelly reached out and was like, “If you need any advice, I’m here.”
And you’ve been on her show.
And when we’re together, honey, we just go back and forth.
We performed together recently and I think we did more talking than singing.
She’s a great example.
But talk shows are embedded in us; it’s in there.
In this case, that’s the test.
“Play Effie”: study that.
“Jennifer, be Jennifer.”
Why is that the most foreign thing?
But I get to be me.
So that’s my job now and I’m super excited about it.
So, it’s more excitement for me right now than anything.
Whatwould the 20-year-old Jennifer think of what’s happening right now with this?
I would have never guessed.
Each thing led to the next and has prepared me for this.
But it’s a different throw in of connection.
And I love that and I don’t mind communicating and connecting.
I want to talk to every single person.
[Laughs] Good titles.
Okay, I think…“Spotlight.”
Because I want to put the spotlight on others.
So “Spotlight,” definitely.
